Top Dos and Don’ts of Writing a Fundraising Gala Script

Around 38% of nonprofits organize 2-5 events annually, while 21% host over 25 events each year. These numbers tell of the success that fundraising events such as galas bring them.

The number of nonprofits conducting events indicates how successful this fundraising strategy is.  

One telling sign of the success of your event is the attendance. If people have shown up, they are motivated enough to support your cause. However, they also typically need a final nudge to donate at such events. That nudge is an explicit ask to contribute. 

A good fundraising gala script ensures that that ask is:

1. Well drafted
2. Complete with all necessary facts 
3. Compelling
4. Concluding with a clear call to action.

Crafting impactful fundraising speeches is an art. This article explores the dos and don’ts of writing a fundraising gala script and provides samples that you can use for your next event.

Let’s get started.

The best time to make fundraising speeches for charity

Like a fundraising gala, any event starts to slow with the arrival of guests, ice-breaking, and momentum-generating space (like refreshments) and then reaches its peak right before performances. That’s when you should schedule your fundraising speech. This is mainly because guests tend to relax during performances and focus on the entertainment rather than taking action.

This event scheduled “wave” by Swaim Strategies, shows the best time for your fundraising appeal:

While making your request at the right time is step 1 of getting satisfactory donations, step 2 is asking the right way. That is our cue to note the dos and don’ts of your speech — and, further down, the four sample fundraising speeches for charity you can adapt for a small ask, a medium ask, an items ask, or a major gift ask.

Dos and don’ts to write a compelling fundraising gala script

When planning a script for a fundraising event, it’s crucial to carefully consider various factors to ensure its success.

Keep your speech between 5-9 minutes

A monologue or speech that is too long can make your audience impatient, chipping away at your chance of getting a donation. Experts recommend keeping your fundraising gala script between 5 to 9 minutes:

• 5-7 minutes if your audience is standing.
• 7-9 minutes if they are sitting.

Weave in a story—the more personal, the better

Anyone working in the nonprofit sector will be familiar with the best practice of adding stories to fundraising speeches and donation appeals. What ground does this tip stand on?

A short experiment by a Stanford marketing professor showed that 5% of people could remember stats after a minute-long speech. 63% remembered the story.

Here are ways to weave in a story in your fundraising gala script:

• Mention your involvement in that cause.
• Mention your participation in the organization at large.
• Tell beneficiary stories.
• Share impact stories.

Read next: The perfect nonprofit storytelling approach to create effective messaging that drives action.

Make a clear, specific ask

You must make a clear ask and highlight what steps you want your audience to take in your speech. 

• Mention the amount you would like them to donate.
• How you would like them to donate (e.g., text-to-donate, donation box, etc.)
• When you want them to donate (e.g., NOW, before month-end) 

Give an example of how a donation by one person can solve the problem you are trying to solve. For instance, “A $100 donation from you today will keep four girls in school for another year.”

Keep the speech interactive

A monotonous speech risks losing attention at intervals; you don’t want them to zone out at the most critical parts. One way of ensuring that doesn’t happen is to keep the speech interactive. You could:

• Ask questions to the entire audience (Do you think car parking has become a nuisance in the city?)
• Ask individuals questions (Ma’am, how did you attend this event today?)
• Get someone on the stage for brief parts of the speech.
• Ask the audience to do a small task (If you’re carrying a pen, hold it up).

Ensure no more than 5-10% of your speech involves audience responses. You could spend time building up to the question, but don’t make them talk or act for too long.

Elaborate on how donations raised in this fundraising gala will be used

Follow your ask immediately by explaining how your nonprofit will use the collected funds. This demonstrates the impact of their contributions.

Your audience is likelier to give when they know you have a clear plan and a definite timeline for utilizing their donations. Transparency can be a great motivator when making a fundraising speech for charity.

Avoid doing the following when making a fundraising gala speech

Write a speech over 10 minutes long

You have some wiggle room if your speech goes beyond 7 minutes for a standing audience or slightly over 9 minutes if they are sitting. But make sure you don’t cross the 10-minute limit. A long speech risks losing the audience’s attention and, in turn, their donations.

At 9 minutes, your fundraising gala script should be about 750 words long. However, don’t assume the length. Practice the speech multiple times, giving attention to:

• Pauses 
• Your speed
• Audience responses 

Time yourself when you’ve mastered these elements and check that you don’t exceed 10 minutes, even in the worst-case scenario (speech-wise).

Make up a story

Nonprofits have the advantage of having several authentic, high-impact stories. Don’t exaggerate or add untrue elements in your fundraising speech to “make it better or bigger.” Your audience will catch on to it and lose interest.

Use filler phrases like “In closing” or “I will keep it short”

Many speakers start by almost apologizing for making the speech (I won’t take much of your time) or end it that way (Now, on to the program you came here for).

Filler phrases like these or “In closing” show nervousness and lack of confidence, which reflects the audience. 

As a speaker, you must know your audience has explicitly come for a fundraising gala. So your speech is expected and welcome. You are not an unfortunate diversion; you are the main event.

Use a generic story or script

Don’t go with one high-impact story you repeat at every occasion and event.

Study your audience before drafting your fundraising gala script. Understand what ticks, moves, and compels them to support you. Use these pointers to weave a story in your fundraising speech.

This study can also help you address things keeping them from donating more or more frequently.

Use redundant slides

As a speaker at a nonprofit fundraising event, you will have visual aids like a slideshow or video. Make sure they are not redundant.

For instance, don’t put a slide with bullet points that you read from. Your slides, videos, or images must build upon or elevate your speech, not be a crutch for you. 

How do you write a fundraising script?

In addition to the dos and don’ts of a fundraising gala script, understanding the nuances of delivering compelling fundraising speeches is vital. Let’s explore the elements of a good script and fundraising speech samples. 

I have provided samples for four scenarios:

1. A small donation ask
2. A medium donation ask
3. Items donation
4. A major gift ask.

Let’s go.

Introduction

The introduction typically includes your name and role at the organization. Spare a sentence to thank the audience for joining the event.

Ideal time: 10-15 seconds.

The hook

Some speakers prefer diving right into a cold open before they introduce themselves. This, too, is a great way to start your speech, so the hook becomes interchangeable with the speaker’s introduction.

Ideal time: 10-15 seconds.

Speech body

Once you’ve caught your audience’s attention with the hook (and maybe followed by an introduction), you elaborate on the initial pitch. The speech body should act like a context setter and explanation for your hook. Here are some pointers to draft the body of a fundraising gala script:

• Impact of your existing programs.
• Status and progress of the program for which the event is planned.
• Plans and timeline for the said program.
• Ways to get involved.
• Testimonials or stories of beneficiaries, volunteers, or others working on the program.
• Your nonprofit’s USP and how it is filling in a void.

Visual aids like images, videos, or slides will be most effective during this part of your speech.

Ideal time: 3-5 minutes for a standing audience. 5-7 minutes for a sitting audience.

Recap

Before you conclude or make the ask, talk about the impact or progress made so far. This will help your audience build trust in the cause and know exactly where you stand. Use this opportunity to explain how you expect the fundraising gala to help the cause. This will establish the context for the following questions.

Ideal time: 15-30 seconds.

Call to action and conclusion

Now, make the clear ask, tell them how to donate, and encourage them to do so as soon as possible. If you have immediate donation options like Paypal or text-to-donate, display the QR codes or shortcodes+keywords on the screen, getting them to take note immediately. 

Ideal Time: 30-60 seconds

Add a concluding sentence/s of no longer than 30 seconds after the ask. Ideally, the conclusion should end when they have paid online or sent you the opt-in text.

Ideal Time: 15-30 Seconds

Tip: Displaying a fundraising thermometer after the ask can boost morale and motivation to donate immensely. Here’s how to build one: How Fundraising Thermometers Complete Your Online Donation Page (With Template). 

Emcee script for a fundraising event: run of show, transitions and handoffs

Everything above covers what the person making the ask says. An emcee script for a fundraising event covers everything around it: the welcome, the cues that move the room from one segment to the next, the handoff into an auction or paddle raise, the sponsor thank-yous, and the close. Keep it as its own document — the emcee and the speaker are rarely the same person, and the emcee needs lines for moments the speaker never touches.

Build the run of show before you write a single line

The run of show is the evening in rows: what happens, who is on the mic, and what the emcee says to bring that person on and send them off. A typical gala order looks like this:

1. Doors, registration, and the emcee’s opening welcome.
2. Dinner or refreshments, with the emcee setting expectations for the evening ahead.
3. The mission moment — the fundraising speech and the ask.
4. Auction, paddle raise, or pledge drive.
5. Entertainment or program.
6. Close: thank-yous, totals, and how guests can still give on the way out.

Each row needs a cue line in and a cue line out, plus the name and title of whoever is speaking, spelled phonetically if there is any doubt. Build this alongside the rest of your event plan: fundraising event planning template.

The emcee’s own links should stay short. The same discipline that keeps an event speech tight applies here — two or three sentences per handoff, never a second speech.

Transitions that keep the room with you

A good transition does three things in order: closes the segment that just ended, bridges with one line of meaning, and introduces the next person by name and by why they are the one saying it.

Auction and paddle-raise handoffs

This is the handoff most emcee scripts get wrong, because it has to carry energy and instructions at the same time. Before the auctioneer or paddle-raise lead takes the mic, the emcee should have already told the room three practical things: what the bidding or giving levels are, how to signal or pay, and that the segment is about to start. Write those instructions into the script word for word — improvised logistics are where momentum leaks.

Script the exit too. When the segment closes, the emcee names what just happened — the number of paddles, the running total, the specific thing it funds — before moving on.

Sponsor thank-yous without stalling the evening

Sponsors need public credit, and a list read flatly off a card is the fastest way to lose the room. Group sponsors by tier, say one specific thing about the top tier, and put the full list on the screen or in the program rather than reading every name aloud. Confirm spellings, titles, and pronunciations with each sponsor contact before the night — getting a name wrong on a mic is the one error guests remember.

The same don’ts apply to the emcee as to the speaker: no apologising for the program, no “I’ll keep this short,” no filler between segments. Rehearse the handoff into the ask with the speaker at least once, so the moment the mic changes hands the room doesn’t have to reset.

The way forward

Text-to-donate is an effective way to get immediate results at your fundraising gala. The speaker can ask people to send a keyword like “DONATE” to your shortcode and get them to donate even before the event concludes.

On the backend, your manager would have set an automated flow to send a donation link to people who send the keyword, so it is only a matter of minutes before your call to action results in actual action.

This blog walked you through the best practices and samples of a fundraising gala script. Check out text fundraising as your next step for a successful event. Text Fundraising: How To Raise Money Over A Channel That Your Donors Prefer.

Feature image source: Al Elmes/Unsplash.